We had a lively Annual General Meeting at the Sandfield Centre on Monday, 20 November. Twenty-one members listened, laughed, applauded then took part in a Writing an Artist Bio activity. More on that in a future post, with prompts to help you create your own!
For those of you who couldn’t make the meeting in person, here are some pride-inducing words from our president.
Thank you all for coming out this evening. I want to start by introducing our board members: Yvonne Callaway, Vice President, Treasurer, Collectif Creativity curator and Wow Coordinator (among other things), Membership; Lynne Ayers, our incredibly efficient Secretary; Elaine Delves, Hospitality Director who keeps us in coffee and goodies; Kerry McIntosh, Susan Irving, and Laura Peck, all directors at large who take over any task when needed. I’m assuming you all know me, Bobi, President, and Trouble Shooter (or troublemaker, depending on the circumstance). Together, we come up with ideas, discuss ideas others present to us, and hammer out all the gory details.
It is a pleasure to be part of such a fabulous organization! We have 79 members, each of whom we appreciate and hope will find inspiration and fulfillment in The Collectif.
I have some changes and exciting plans to talk about, but first I want to read off a list of what we have done in our first 7 years. Since our founding in October 2016, we have put on:
- 5 Big Shows — 4 at Brent’s, 1 at Community Living
- 4 WOW events
- 9 museum shows, including our first juried show in 2023
- 1 tribute show (for Stuart McCormick)
- 1 library show
- 1 Christmas show at the Gary Shepherd Hall
- 3 Art in the Park/Square
- 5 Bake sales
- 6 Workshops
- 2 Cabarets
- 7 Write Things
- At least 16 Coffee Houses, many with speakers and/or activities.
We designed, had cut, and painted 3 large “face-hole photo-op xmas boards” for the township; put up two artist murals in town and a mural of 5 pieces from the local schools (which were given to the schools when the water building was being renovated); commissioned 2 works of art and had them printed for murals in Maxville and Mill Square; participated in 3 Canada Day parades, one Glengarry Routes Heritage tour, one Kilt Skate Art Show put on by the municipality (which ended up being digital); and we have collected food and toys for St Vincent’s Christmas Drive 3 years in a row – 2023 will be our 4th.
We’ve also won two awards – the Community Excellence award in 2018 from Community Living for inclusiveness, and the Community Service Group award from the Township in 2022.
Wow!
I want to thank everyone who participated, volunteered, and/or encouraged us. We are an amazing group of artists, wouldn’t you agree?
[Ed: YES!] Photos Milo Smith.
Collectif 